Results round-up

Imperial Brands reported a drop in profit for the year to end of September, but revenue rose and the FTSE 100 tobacco company upped its dividend by 10%.

Net profit fell to £631m from £1.7bn as costs rose, but revenue was up 9.3% to £27.63bn and Imperial lifted its dividend to 155.2p per share from 141p the year before.

In addition, the group announced plans to invest £300m in its growth and specialist brands in the key markets that offer the best opportunities for “quality growth” and said it will be supported by a new phase of cost optimisation, targeting a further £300m of annual savings by 2020, at a cost of £750m.

Chief executive Alison Cooper said: “We delivered another strong performance this year with great results from our expanded US business, and we further improved the quality of our growth. We grew the dividend by 10% for the eighth consecutive year and remain committed to this level of increase over the medium term.

Marks & Spencer held its interim dividend flat after first-half profits plunged as new chief executive Steve Rowe closed the defined benefit pension scheme and announced a £550m investment plan to close 113 stores in the UK and overseas to try and return the retailer to profitable growth.

After some initial 'kitchen sinking' after his appointment in the spring, the second instalment of Rowe's strategy involves the closing of 60 Clothing & Home stores in UK and shift over to more food-focused stores, plus the withdrawal of owned stores from 10 loss-making overseas markets, at a cost at least £0.5bn over five years.

Moreover, a £206m charge, mostly relating payments relating to the closure of its defined benefit pensions scheme and an initial £26m towards the restructuring plans, meant the FTSE 100 group's statutory profits before tax crashed 89% to £25m for the half-year to 1 October.

At the underlying level PBT was still down 18.6% to £231.3m as revenue fell 1% to £4.99bn, with lower Clothing & Home sales taking much of the blame.

Underlying basic earnings per share of 11.5p were down 18.4% on the equivalent period last year, and while the half-time dividend was held at 6.8p the expense of the restructuring will see no repeat of last year's £75m special dividend in the second half.

Rowe said the strategic review he began in May had led him to create a "simpler business" with a focus on recovering the general merchandise business and continuing to grow the food business, with over 200 new Simply Food stores planned by the end of 2018/19.

FTSE 250 engineering software provider Aveva swung to a profit in the first half of the year as revenue rose despite “continued tough trading conditions".

In the six months to the end of September, the group made a pre-tax profit of £5.5m compared to a £800,000 loss the year before, as revenue edged up 3% to £84.3m. Aveva pointed out that in 2015, reported profit was hit by the professional adviser costs associated with the aborted transaction with Schneider Electric.

As far as revenue is concerned, it said the weakening of the pound in the aftermath of the Brexit vote has had a favourable impact.

Aveva lifted its interim dividend by 117% to 13p per share following the board’s decision to re-weight the total dividend more heavily towards the interim dividend than in previous years.